All Posts

The Robert Smith House taken by Harriette Merrifield Forbes in 1927 Robert was born in Worcester, MA on January 8, 1730/1 to John and Rebeckah (Batty) Smith. He was the second child and oldest son of their six children. The Smiths were some of the early settlers of Worcester, coming with the other "Scotch-Irish" families in the 1720s. There was a large anti-Presbyterian movement in Worcester in the 1740s and many families left. I believe John and Rebeckah were among them

L-R: Miss Pike, Mr. Newel, Mrs. Newel, Mr. Stacy , Miss Goodenough Edward Waldo was born in Harvard, MA on April 9, 1842 as the oldest child of Nathaniel and Lucy W. (Adams) Stacy. He had a younger sister named Mary who was born on January 16, 1844. Nathaniel was a paper manufacturer, and was almost 16 years older than his wife. As a young man Edward Waldo attended the local public school. His sister did as well. Alice Adams, their maternal grandmother, lived with the fam

Here lies the Body of Mrs. REBECCA WHITE Widow of Mr. ISAAC WHITE late of Boston. When the British Troops took possession of the Town of Boston, she went to her Son JOHN WHITE Esq. of Charlestown and continued in his Family 'til She died at Billerica, Sept. 13th 1782 Aged 94 Years.

Here lies ye Body of the Widow LYDIA DYAR of Boston; the Place of her Nativity, where She left a good Estate & came into ye Country May 22d, 1775; to escape ye abuce of ye Ministeral Troops sent by GEORGE ye 3d, to subject North America to Slavery. She died July 28th, 1776. Aged 80 Years.

According to the Salem Death Records, William H. Bell is the son of William Bell and Mary E. Monarch, and was born around 1845. Some time before the 1855 MA Census he came to live with Benjamin and Maria Jewell, relatives on his mother’s side. Before the Civil War he worked as a laborer. He joined Company B of the 7th Massachusetts on July 1, 1862. I was unable to find him in the regiment’s muster rolls available through the National Archives, but it is very possible that tho

Jacob was baptized on November 29, 1719 in Ipswich, MA. He was the eldest son of Deacon Jacob and Rebecca (Lull) Caldwell. He married Anna Hastings on September 28, 1742. They were married by Joseph Mason, Justice of the Peace. Both were "of Watertown", so Jacob must have moved there at some point before his marriage and long enough to establish residency. Jacob and Anna had nine children. John in 1743, Rebecca in 1744, Anna in 1746, Jacob in 1748, Sarah in 1750, and Enoch

This mausoleum in Thompson, CT might look rather mundane, but one of the people interred within was quite the opposite. Anastase Andreivitch Vonsiatski was Russian Pole who fled during the Bolshevik Revolution. He claimed to be a Russian Count, and while his ancestor did have land granted to him by the Romanovs, he was not a member of the nobility. Vonsiatsky’s second wife was an American heiress, and he married her before getting a divorce from his first wife. In the US he w

John, Elijah, and Nathaniel were children of Nathaniel and Elizabeth Davenport. Nathaniel Davenport came to Shrewsbury, MA from Bridgewater, MA with his new wife Lucy in 1730. Lucy died in October that year a few weeks after the birth of their first and only child, a daughter named Lucy. I do not know what became of Lucy the younger, as she does not appear in any records other than that of her birth. She likely died soon after her mother. By 1733 Nathaniel had married a wom

The gravestone of Mr. Daniel Baird Daniel was born in Leicester, MA on November 13, 1742 to Thomas and Elizabeth Beard--spelling during the Colonial Era was not standardized, so "Baird" also appears as "Beard". He was the third of their five children. The Beards came to Leicester from Mendon around 1735, and remained there until 1745 when they moved to the southern part of Worcester in what is now Auburn. On December 2, 1767 he published his intentions to marry Jane Smith of

Charles was born in 1843 to James and Jane S. Johnson in Winsted, CT. He had at least one sibling, a younger brother named James Jr. James the younger died around age 10 in 1854. Jane's parents were named Prince and Rebecca Morris. James' parents were Robert and Phila Johnson. Both were born in Warren, MA, and were likely members of the free black community. They were married in 1842. James Sr. died in 1852 when Charles was around 11, and he lived with family members after h

The following individuals are not famous, but other people with their same names are. Mr. Peter Parker HERE Lies the Body OF Mr. Peter Parker who departed this Life March ye 28th: 1777. In the 31st year of his age. Old Burying Ground Groton, MA Capt. John Williams IN Memory of CAP. JOHN WILLIAMS who died July 1, 1822 Æt. 76 Old Burying Ground Groton, MA Mr. Samuel Hagar IN Memory of MR. SAMUEL HAGAR who died June -- 1774, in the 77th Year of his Age. Woodside Cemetery Westmin

This is a favorite books to bring with me when I'm visiting cemeteries, and I highly recommend it for both beginner and experienced cemetery wanderers. I think my fost favorite thing about this book is how accessible it is. The book is organized into bite-sized sections that are written to give an overview of the content without being too wordy. There are clear pictures on almost every page that help us readers navigate and see exactly what the author is explaining. Each sec

Elizabeth was born to Stephen and Elizabeth (Thompson) Morse on January 2, 1828. She was their second child and oldest daughter. Her parents met and were married in Boston, where Stephen was working as the receiving teller and messenger for the Suffolk Bank. By the 1850 US Census the family had moved to Marlborough, MA in order to farm. He was often the town's acting magistrate, and continued to do occasional jobs for the Suffolk Bank. Elizabeth died on May 2, 1851 and is

The gravestone of Rev. Thomas Jones Rev. Jones was born in Dorchester, MA on April 20, 1721, the son of Ebenezer and Waitstill (Davenport) Jones. He went to Harvard College and graduated in 1741. Rev. Jones was installed as the Minister of the Second Parish of Woburn in 1751. Very shortly after, a dozen people left his church to become members of the Church of England. It is said that while his sermons were not very exciting he was a practical and faithful minister to his pa

In early March of 1743/4 Mr. Campbell was killed on his farm during a dispute with one of his employees, one Edward Fitzpatrick from Ireland.

Charles was born on April 21, 1821 in Chesterfield, MA to Oliver and Sally Burr. He married Lucinda Goddard in Providence, RI on January 21, 1844. Both gave their residence as Grafton, MA. They were members of the United Methodist Church. In 1850 the family was living in Sutton, MA. Charles and Lucinda had eight children ranging in age from 15 to 1 on the 1860 US Census. Charles and his oldest son Oliver are listed as shoemakers, and they were living in Millbury, MA. In Febru

Reuben and Meriam were children of Lt. Reuben and Mrs. Rebeckah (Barrett) Hunt. Both were born in Concord, MA. Reuben and Rebeckah were married by the Reverend William Emerson in Concord on January 4, 1770. They had eleven children together over their 26-year marriage. Lt. Reuben served during the American Revolution as a volunteer militiaman in John Buttrick's Company. He was also a town Selectman from 1797-1801. Reuben the son was born on March 16, 1774, the third child

While all pre-industrial revolutions are unique in that they were handmade, some of the designs are, well, more unique than others. The gravestones on this page have no others like them that I've seen. Sophia Nurse In Memory of Sophia Nurse, daughtr. of Mr Jona. & Mrs. Ruth Nurse who died July 19th 1795 in the 3d year of her age. Old South Burying Ground Bolton, MA Carved by the Park family Sophia Nurse Silas Whitcomb In Memory of Silas Whitcomb son of Lieut. Asa & Mrs. Sara

Susanna was born in Marblehead, MA to Mark Jr. and Susannah Haskell. She was baptised on June 11, 1732, so her birthday was likely in either late May or early June. Susanna was the third of at least four children born to her parents--none of the children had their births recorded, only their baptisms, so it is entirely possible that she had siblings who died before they could be baptized. On November 27, 1753 she and Peter Jayne were married by the Reverend Simon Bradstreet,

Anna was born on November 14, 1727 to Benjamin and Abigail (Moody) Greenleaf in Newbury, MA. Three of her siblings never married, and chose to live together in neighboring Newburyport. On December 22, 1748 she married Matthew Perkins Jr. He was originally from Ipswich. They had twelve children together, including a set of twins who sadly died shortly after they were born in July 1861. Most of their children died before their first birthday. Their youngest child, a daughter